Book Reviews: Duff and This Is Where It Ends

The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don't think I've ever read a book more true to high school than this.

I really enjoyed this book. I know a lot of people complained about the message this sent to young girls and the language used throughout the book was unrealistic to a high school student but to those people I have to wonder - where the hell did you go to school, Amish country? The language used is watered down compared to what could be heard in my school and every thought the main character has about herself and others is something that every single high school girl has thought at some point in their lives. I found Bianca to be completely relatable and I saw myself in her shoes at that age. She goes through a growing process throughout the book to the point where her unhealthy image of herself meets the more mature way of thinking and she comes to terms with who she is and who she wants to be.

The story held my interest all the way through so much that I read it in one sitting. The story is definitely character driven and they will pull you into the story to make you remember what it was like in high school and remember the thoughts and feelings you had at that time in your life. Who didn't secretly have problems at home or a crush on the beautiful dick of a jock.

Wesley is a jerk for 2/3 of the book but even he redeems himself in the end. I think it is too easy to say this book is a bad influence on girls because of the way he treats Bianca and yet she falls for him anyways. If you actually read the entire book, you would see it's not as simple as black and white.

View all my reviews This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Before reading it: A book about a school shooting? Heck yes count me in.

After reading it: Huh, that could've been so much better. It had so much potential.

The plot alone could hook almost anyone into reading it and this should've been an easy win for the author. I love the concept of being in the center of a school during a shooting from perspectives both in the immediate vicinity and outside of the premises of the school during the event. Even the characters had the potential to have huge impacts on the story but unfortunately the author doesn't take the time to make you invested in them enough to care who lives, who dies, who tells their story. The plot great and is the main pull to get you through the story. The characters don't really have the depth to keep you interested in them (although there was massive potential and their backstories were super interesting if only there had been more to pull you in).

I liked the tweets, texts. and blog posts that are thrown in but I kept getting distracted trying to figure out who they belonged to or who they were aimed at which often pulled me out of the story.

I think if you want a quick read about an interesting topic and you don't really care about a character driven story, then this book would be good. I liked it but it won't be a memorable read. Given about 200 more pages and it could've been great.

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